Doctor Who: BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures [059] - Camera Obscura by Lloyd Rose

Author:Lloyd Rose
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780563538578
Publisher: Diamond Comic Distributors
Published: 2002-07-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Scale nearly jumped off the cart when the voice came out of the box.

‘Scale?’ it said.

Scale caught his breath. His eyes darted around to see if anyone else had heard, but the dark narrow street was empty.

‘I know you’re there,’ said the voice from the box.

‘Shut up,’ said Scale.

‘That’s better.’

‘I won’t talk to you. You’re supposed to be drugged.’

‘That’s all right, I just want to talk to you.’

‘I won’t listen. Shut up, I tell you, or I’ll gag you.’

‘Very bad idea,’ said the man in the box. Damn him, Scale thought desperately. He’d known he was trouble from the minute he saw him. What if he called for help? Could Scale overpower him and stop his mouth if the man wasn’t drugged? Should he stop the cart now and try?

‘Listen, Scale,’ said the man, ‘have you really thought this through?’

He wasn’t shouting for help. In fact, he was speaking quite moderately. This was a queer one, all right. ‘What?’

‘Have you thought this through properly?’

‘Thought what through properly?’

‘This kidnapping business.’

‘I know what I’m doing.’

‘Well, now, you see, that’s where we disagree. You’re taking me to someone and trading me for a certain amount of money, am I right?’ Scale didn’t reply. ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’ No reply. ‘I’ll take that as yes. Now, that raises a question. How do you know the person in question will pay you?’

‘He won’t cheat me.’

‘Why not?’

‘He wouldn’t dare.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’d bring the law down on him. I could do it and not get caught meself.’

‘Even if he kills you?’

There was a long, long pause.

‘What?’ said Scale faintly.

‘Well, think about it,’ said the man in a maddeningly conversational tone. ‘Why shouldn’t he? It will save him money. Not to mention guaranteeing you won’t spill the whole thing when you’re in your cups.’

‘You’re just trying to get me to let you go!’

‘No,’ said the man. ‘On the contrary. I very badly want to meet this fellow. I suspect he knows something about your mirror, maybe something about all your mirrors.’

‘Shut up!’

‘In a second. One last bit of advice: as soon as you’ve delivered this box, you’d be wise to try to get out of there. Think about it, Scale; you’ll see I’m right. Now I’m shutting up.’

Scale couldn’t be sure, but he thought he could hear the man begin to hum softly to himself. He slapped the reins nervously against the horse’s back and it grudgingly picked up its pace. Though the night was cool, Scale felt himself begin to sweat.

In his box, the Doctor relaxed. He had thrown out the laudanum-dampened cloth and Vera had provided him with a clean towel to fold under his head, so this second journey wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as the first. And he’d done his best for Scale. The man might even pay attention; he seemed to have a fairly strong sense of self-preservation. Additionally, he’d made sure that Fitz and Anji would be notified about what was happening – and though this was somewhat mitigated by the fact that he didn’t actually know what was happening, at least they wouldn’t be at a complete loss.

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